Three year old Barrett Berg broke his femur in early June. His family received a car seat from the Center of Childhood Safety in order to get home and travel safely in his cast. (Courtesy: Dani Berg)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A group that helps to keep kids in our communities safe from injuries needs some help of its own.
The Center for Childhood Safety, a Green Bay nonprofit organization, is looking for additional funds to keep one of its most popular programs running this year.
Earlier this month, Dani Berg from Gladstone, Michigan found herself at HSHS St. Vincent Children’s Hospital with her 3-year old son, Barrett. The toddler needed surgery after breaking his femur in a backyard fall. He ended up in a half-body cast.
“They had at least given us a heads up, you know what, you’re most likely not going to be able to leave with the car seat you have,” said Berg about how her family would get their son home.
The situation was overwhelming for the Bergs, so the hospital reached out to the Center for Childhood Safety for help with a car seat. The organization showed up at the hospital within hours with a car seat that would fit Barrett and his cast.
According to Berg, “We were not prepared for something like that to happen and be told, ‘Nope, you need to figure it out.’ Just another thing on top of what we were already dealing with. This was such a blessing.”
The Berg family is just one of the dozens who have benefited from the generosity of the Center for Childhood Safety and its car seat program this year. Since January, the organization has given out about 80 car seats, free of charge, to families in need — whether financially or in an unexpected situation.
“Our referrals for families in need has doubled from what it was last year. I think families with inflation just cannot afford those simple things that they used to be able to afford,” said Executive Director Kimberly Hess.
That increase is putting a strain on the organization’s car seat program.
Hess said, “We’ve completely run out of funding for the first time. We do get a grant every year to help up purchase probably about 120 car seats. We’ve exhausted that in eight months, and unfortunately, the grant is not going to renew until the end of October.”
Just this week, the Center for Childhood Safety had to turn away families that were looking for help. They’re now hoping to raise about $15,000, quickly. The funds will cover the cost of about 75 car seats, as well as the time that it takes to install one, which is about 30 to 60 minutes.
“Without that money. anybody who is in need of a car seat, there is no resources in Brown County to help those families transport their children,” added Hess.
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